Implementing fault tolerant applications using reflective object-oriented programming

Abstract: Shows how reflection and object-oriented programming can be used to ease the implementation of classical fault tolerance mechanisms in distributed applications. When the underlying runtime system does not provide fault tolerance transparently, classical approaches to implementing fault tolerance mechanisms often imply mixing functional programming with non-functional programming (e.g. error processing mechanisms). The use of reflection improves the transparency of fault tolerance mechanisms to the programmer and more generally provides a clearer separation between functional and non-functional programming. The implementations of some classical replication techniques using a reflective approach are presented in detail and illustrated by several examples, which have been prototyped on a network of Unix workstations. Lessons learnt from our experiments are drawn and future work is discussed

Reflective Composition: the declarative composition of roles to unify objects, roles, and aspects [poster session]

As bases for object-orientation, both class-based and prototype-based organization have limitations. We argue that roles have significant benefits as a foundation for organizing objects. We further argue that these benefits can be realised most flexibly using logic meta-programming. Additional benefits from this approach are to reduce redundancy and subsume aspects

Abstracting object interactions using composition filters

It is generally claimed that object-based models are very suitable for building distributed system architectures since object interactions follow the client-server model. To cope with the complexity of today's distributed systems, however, we think that high-level linguistic mechanisms are needed to effectively structure, abstract and reuse object interactions. For example, the conventional object-oriented model does not provide high-level language mechanisms to model layered system architectures. Moreover, we consider the message passing model of the conventional object-oriented model as being too low-level because it can only specify object interactions that involve two partner objects at a time and its semantics cannot be extended easily. This paper introduces Abstract Communication Types (ACTs), which are objects that abstract interactions among objects. ACTs make it easier to model layered communication architectures, to enforce the invariant behavior among objects, to reduce the complexity of programs by hiding the interaction details in separate modules and to improve reusability through the application of object-oriented principles to ACT classes. We illustrate the concept of ACTs using the composition filters model

Experience with statically-generated proxies for facilitating Java runtime specialisation

Issues pertaining to mechanisms which can be used to change the behaviour of Java classes at runtime are discussed. The proxy mechanism is compared to, and contrasted with other standard approaches to this problem. Some of the problems the proxy mechanism is subject to are expanded upon. The question of whether statically-developed proxies are a viable alternative to bytecode rewriting was investigated by means of the JavaCloak system, which uses statically-generated proxies to alter the runtime behaviour of externally-developed code. The issues addressed include ensuring the type safety, dealing with the self problem, object encapsulation, and issues of object identity and equality. Some performance figures are provided which demonstrate the load the JavaCloak proxy mechanism places on the system

A metaobject architecture for fault-tolerant distributed systems : the FRIENDS approach

The FRIENDS system developed at LAAS-CNRS is a metalevel architecture providing libraries of metaobjects for fault tolerance, secure communication, and group-based distributed applications. The use of metaobjects provides a nice separation of concerns between mechanisms and applications. Metaobjects can be used transparently by applications and can be composed according to the needs of a given application, a given architecture, and its underlying properties. In FRIENDS, metaobjects are used recursively to add new properties to applications. They are designed using an object oriented design method and implemented on top of basic system services. This paper describes the FRIENDS software-based architecture, the object-oriented development of metaobjects, the experiments that we have done, and summarizes the advantages and drawbacks of a metaobject approach for building fault-tolerant system

FRIENDS - A flexible architecture for implementing fault tolerant and secure distributed applications

FRIENDS is a software-based architecture for implementing fault-tolerant and, to some extent, secure applications. This architecture is composed of sub-systems and libraries of metaobjects. Transparency and separation of concerns is provided not only to the application programmer but also to the programmers implementing metaobjects for fault tolerance, secure communication and distribution. Common services required for implementing metaobjects are provided by the sub-systems. Metaobjects are implemented using object-oriented techniques and can be reused and customised according to the application needs, the operational environment and its related fault assumptions. Flexibility is increased by a recursive use of metaobjects. Examples and experiments are also described

Data Abstraction Mechanisms in Sina/st

This paper describes a new data abstraction mechanism in an object-oriented model of computing. The data abstraction mechanism described here has been devised in the context of the design of Sina/st language. In Sina/st no language constructs have been adopted for specifying inheritance or delegation, but rather, we introduce simpler mechanisms that can support a wide range of code sharing strategies without selecting one among them as a language feature. Sina/st also provides a stronger data encapsulation than most of the existing object-oriented languages. This language has been implemented on the SUN 3 workstation using Smalltalk

Liberating Composition from Language Dictatorship

Historically, programming languages have been—although benevolent—dictators: fixing a lot of semantics into built-in language constructs. Over the years, (some) programming languages have freed the programmers from restrictions to use only built-in libraries, built-in data types, or built-in type checking rules. Even though, arguably, such freedom could lead to anarchy, or people shooting themselves in the foot, the contrary tends to be the case: a language that does not allow for extensibility, is depriving software engineers from the ability to construct proper abstractions and to structure software in the most optimal way. Instead, the software becomes less structured and maintainable than would be possible if the software engineer could express the behavior of the program with the most appropriate abstractions. The new idea proposed by this paper is to move composition from built-in language constructs to programmable, first-class abstractions in the language. As an emerging result, we present the Co-op concept of a language, which shows that it is possible with a relatively simple model to express a wide range of compositions as first-class concepts

Strategic Directions in Object-Oriented Programming

This paper has provided an overview of the field of object-oriented programming. After presenting a historical perspective and some major achievements in the field, four research directions were introduced: technologies integration, software components, distributed programming, and new paradigms. In general there is a need to continue research in traditional areas:\ud (1) as computer systems become more and more complex, there is a need to further develop the work on architecture and design; \ud (2) to support the development of complex systems, there is a need for better languages, environments, and tools; \ud (3) foundations in the form of the conceptual framework and other theories must be extended to enhance the means for modeling and formal analysis, as well as for understanding future computer systems